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McTominay double lifts Napoli to 4-3 Champions League win over Bodo/Glimt

Carlos Mendez
Carlos Mendez
Soccer Correspondent
10:16 PM
SOCCER
McTominay double lifts Napoli to 4-3 Champions League win over Bodo/Glimt
Scott McTominay scored twice as Napoli beat Bodo/Glimt 4-3 to earn their first Champions League points of the season. His goals twice restored the hosts’ lead.

Scott McTominay scored twice as Napoli defeated Bodo/Glimt 4-3 on Tuesday to collect their first points of this season's Champions League campaign. The Scotland midfielder restored Napoli's lead on both occasions after the visitors had equalised at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. BBC Sport reported that the goals were his first of the season and his first since undergoing heart surgery.

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Napoli had lost their opening European matches to Arsenal and Villarreal and entered this game with only three victories across all competitions this season. Matteo Politano gave them an immediate advantage, volleying in after 54 seconds from a Leonardo Spinazzola assist. Bodo/Glimt responded through Jens Petter Hauge in the 27th minute, setting up the first of two periods in which Napoli had to find another breakthrough.

McTominay supplied that breakthrough four minutes before the interval. He reached Kevin de Bruyne's through ball and lifted his finish past goalkeeper Nikita Haikin, sending Napoli into half-time 2-1 ahead. According to the BBC report, McTominay missed four matches last month while undergoing surgery for a benign heart arrhythmia. His two goals in Naples brought his total for the club to 29 in 86 appearances across all competitions since joining in 2024.

The visitors levelled again in the 62nd minute when Andreas Helmersen struck into the bottom corner. McTominay put Napoli back ahead with a header in the 75th minute, with Politano providing the assist. An own goal by Odin Bjortuft in the 88th minute then made it 4-2, as the defender turned Giovane's cross past his own goalkeeper. It was the first time either side had led by two goals.

Bodo/Glimt still reduced the deficit in the fourth minute of added time. Bjortuft hit the crossbar before Sondre Fet headed in, but the visitors could not produce a third equaliser. The Norwegian team had beaten Borussia Dortmund 1-0 in their previous Champions League match and reached the last 16 of the competition last season.

The result leaves both clubs on three points. Napoli's next Champions League assignment is away to Porto on 4 November, while Bodo/Glimt will host Lille on 3 November. For Napoli, the seven-goal match ended a run of two European defeats; for McTominay, it marked his return to the scoresheet with two goals that each put his team back in front.

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